Next Generation of Computationally Optimized Broadly Reactive HA Vaccines Elicited Cross-Reactive Immune Responses and Provided Protection against H1N1 Virus Infection.

Vaccination is the best way to prevent influenza virus infections, but the diversity of antigenically distinct isolates is a persistent challenge for vaccine development. In order to conquer the antigenic variability and improve influenza virus vaccine efficacy, our research group has developed computationally optimized broadly reactive antigens (COBRAs) in the form of recombinant hemagglutinins (rHAs) to elicit broader immune responses. However, previous COBRA H1N1 vaccines do not elicit immune responses that neutralize H1N1 virus strains in circulation during the recent years. In order to update our COBRA vaccine, two new candidate COBRA HA vaccines, Y2 and Y4, were generated using a new seasonal-based COBRA methodology derived from H1N1 isolates that circulated during 2013-2019. In this study, the effectiveness of COBRA Y2 and Y4 vaccines were evaluated in mice, and the elicited immune responses were compared to those generated by historical H1 COBRA HA and wild-type H1N1 HA vaccines. Mice vaccinated with the next generation COBRA HA vaccines effectively protected against morbidity and mortality after infection with H1N1 influenza viruses. The antibodies elicited by the COBRA HA vaccines were highly cross-reactive with influenza A (H1N1) pdm09-like viruses isolated from 2009 to 2021, especially with the most recent circulating viruses from 2019 to 2021. Furthermore, viral loads in lungs of mice vaccinated with Y2 and Y4 were dramatically reduced to low or undetectable levels, resulting in minimal lung injury compared to wild-type HA vaccines following H1N1 influenza virus infection.

Age-Associated Changes in Recombinant H5 Highly Pathogenic and Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza Hemagglutinin Tissue Binding in Domestic Poultry Species.

The 2014 outbreak of clade 2.3.4.4A highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) led to the culling of millions of commercial chickens and turkeys and death of various wild bird species. In this outbreak, older chickens and turkeys were commonly infected, and succumbed to clinical disease compared to younger aged birds such chicken broilers. Some experimental studies using waterfowl species have shown age-related differences in susceptibility to clinical disease with HPAI viruses. Here, we evaluate differences in H5 Hemagglutinin (HA) tissue binding across age groups, using recombinant H5 HA (rHA) proteins generated using gene sequences from low pathogenic (A/mallard/MN/410/2000(H5N2 (LPAIV)) and a HPAIV (A/Northern pintail/Washington/40964/2014(H5N2)) influenza A virus (IAV). Respiratory and intestinal tracts from chickens, ducks (Mallard, Pekin, Muscovy) and turkeys of different age groups were used to detect rHA binding with protein histochemistry, which was quantified as the median area of binding (MAB) used for statistical analysis. There were species and tissue specific differences in the rHA binding among the age groups; however, turkeys had significant differences in the HPAIV rHA binding in the respiratory tract, with younger turkeys having higher levels of binding in the lung compared to the older group. In addition, in the intestinal tract, younger turkeys had higher levels of binding compared to the older birds. Using LPAIV, similar species and tissues, specific differences were seen among the age groups; however, only turkeys had overall significant differences in the respiratory tract MAB, with the older birds having higher levels of binding compared to the younger group. No age-related differences were seen in the overall intestinal tract rHA binding. Age-related differences in rHA binding of the LPAIV and HPAIV demonstrated in this study may partially, but not completely, explain differences in host susceptibility to infection observed during avian influenza outbreaks and in experimental infection studies.

Research-Relevant Background Lesions and Conditions in Common Avian and Aquatic Species.

Non-mammalian vertebrates including birds, fish, and amphibians have a long history of contributing to ground-breaking scientific discoveries. Because these species offer several experimental advantages over higher vertebrates and share extensive anatomic and genetic homology with their mammalian counterparts, they remain popular animal models in a variety of fields such as developmental biology, physiology, toxicology, drug discovery, immunology, toxicology, and infectious disease. As with all animal models, familiarity with the anatomy, physiology, and spontaneous diseases of these species is necessary for ensuring animal welfare, as well as accurate interpretation and reporting of study findings. Working with avian and aquatic species can be especially challenging in this respect due to their rich diversity and array of unique adaptations. Here, we provide an overview of the research-relevant anatomic features, non-infectious conditions, and infectious diseases that impact research colonies of birds and aquatic animals, including fish and Xenopus species.

The Contribution of Eimeria Coinfection and Intestinal Inflammation to Cecal Colonization and Systemic Spread of Salmonella Typhimurium Deficient in Tetrathionate Reductase or Type III Secretion Systems Salmonella Pathogenicity Island 1 or 2.

Intestinal inflammation may provide a growth advantage for Salmonella and enhance its systemic spread in chickens. Salmonella triggers intestinal inflammation in the host by using type III secretion systems (T3SS) and produces the inflammatory end product tetrathionate. In mice, tetrathionate respiration confers a growth advantage for Salmonella Typhimurium over the competitive microbiome in the inflamed intestine. Coccidia also promote intestinal inflammation and enhance Salmonella intestinal growth and systemic spread in chickens. The objective of this study was to evaluate the contribution of inflammation, induced by Eimeria spp. or Salmonella Typhimurium, to Salmonella colonization and dissemination in chickens. In addition, the fitness costs associated with defects in tetrathionate reductase and T3SS associated with Salmonella Pathogenicity Island 1 or 2 (SPI-1 or SPI-2) were evaluated in in vivo competition experiments with wild-type Salmonella strain, with or without Eimeria coinfection. One-day-old specific-pathogen-free chickens were orally inoculated with a sham inoculum or with 4 × 102Eimeria oocysts cocktail of Eimeria tenella, Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria maxima, and Eimeria mitis. At 6 days of age, birds were orally administered a 1:1 ratio of Salmonella Typhimurium wild-type and mutant deficient in tetrathionate reductase, SPI-1, or SPI-2 (108 colony forming units/bird). Ceca, livers, and drumsticks were collected at 3, 7, 14, and 42 days after Salmonella infection, for bacteriology. Intestinal inflammation was scored by histology. Significantly higher intestinal inflammation was observed in challenge groups compared with the control. However, there were no significant differences in intestinal inflammation scores between groups coinfected with both Eimeria spp. and Salmonella Typhimurium and birds infected with Salmonella alone, and Eimeria coinfection did not increase Salmonella prevalence or abundance. Contrary to mouse studies, tetrathionate reductase did not enhance Salmonella Typhimurium cecal colonization or systemic spread in chickens. SPI-1 and SPI-2 played a significant role in Salmonella dissemination and cecal colonization in chickens, respectively.

Contribución de la coinfección por Eimeria y de la inflamación intestinal a la colonización cecal y a la propagación sistémica de Salmonella Typhimurium deficiente en tetrationato reductasa o de sistemas de secreción de tipo III de islas de patogenicidad 1 o 2 de Salmonella. La inflamación intestinal puede proporcionar una ventaja para el crecimiento de Salmonella y aumentar su propagación sistémica en pollos. Salmonella desencadena la inflamación intestinal en el huésped mediante el uso de sistemas de secreción tipo III (T3SS) y produce el producto final inflamatorio, tetrationato. En ratones, la respiración con tetrationato confiere una ventaja de crecimiento para Salmonella Typhimurium sobre el microbioma competitivo en el intestino inflamado. Coccidia también promueve la inflamación intestinal y mejora el crecimiento intestinal de Salmonella y la propagación sistémica en pollos. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la contribución de la inflamación, inducida por Eimeria spp. o Salmonella Typhimurium, en la colonización y diseminación de Salmonella en pollos. Además, se evaluaron los costos de aptitud asociados con defectos en la tetrationato reductasa y T3SS asociados con las islas de patogenicidad 1 o 2 de Salmonella (SPI-1 o SPI-2) mediante experimentos de competencia in vivo con cepas de Salmonella de tipo silvestre, con o sin coinfección con Eimeria. Pollos libres de patógenos específicos de un día de edad se inocularon por vía oral con un inóculo falso o con 4 × 102 de un coctel de ooquistes de Eimeria que incluyó Eimeria tenella, Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria maxima y Eimeria mitis. A los seis días de edad, se les administró a las aves administró por vía oral una proporción 1: 1 de Salmonella Typhimurium de tipo silvestre o tipo mutante que es deficiente de tetrationato reductasa, SPI-1 o SPI-2 (108 unidades formadoras de colonias/ave). Se recolectaron ciegos, hígados y pernas a los tres, siete, catorce y 42 días después de la infección por Salmonella, para bacteriología. La inflamación intestinal se calificó por histología. Se observó inflamación intestinal significativamente mayor en los grupos de desafío en comparación con el control. Sin embargo, no hubo diferencias significativas en las puntuaciones de inflamación intestinal entre los grupos coinfectados con Eimeria spp. y Salmonella Typhimurium y las aves infectadas con Salmonella por si sola y la coinfección con Eimeria no aumentó la prevalencia o abundancia de Salmonella. A diferencia de los estudios en ratones, la tetrationato reductasa no mejoró la colonización cecal de Salmonella Typhimurium o la diseminación sistémica en pollos. Las islas de patogenicidad SPI-1 y SPI-2 jugaron un papel importante en la diseminación de Salmonella y en la colonización cecal en pollos, respectivamente.

Are Microneutralization and Hemagglutination Inhibition Assays Comparable? Serological Results from Influenza Experimentally Infected Mallard Ducks.

The hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay is commonly used to assess the humoral immune response against influenza A viruses (IAV). However, the microneutralization (MN) assay has been reported to have higher sensitivity when testing sera from humans and other species. Our objective was to determine the agreement between MN and HI assays and compare the proportion of positive samples detected by both methods in sera of mallards primary infected with the A/mallard/MN/Sg-000169/ 2007 (H3N8) virus and subsequently inoculated with homosubtypic or heterosubtypic IAV. Overall, we found poor to fair agreement (prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted kappa [PABAK], 0.03-0.35) between MN and HI assays in serum samples collected 2 weeks after H3N8 inoculation; the observed agreement increased to moderate or substantial in samples collected 4 to 5 weeks postinoculation (WPI) (PABAK, 0.52-0.75). The MN assay detected a higher proportion of positive samples compared with HI assays in serum samples collected 2 WPI (P = 0.01). This difference was not observed in samples collected 4 WPI. Also, a boosting effect in MN and HI titers was observed when birds were subsequently inoculated with IAV within the same H3 clade. This effect was not observed when birds were challenged with viruses that belong to a different HA clade. In summary, the agreement between assays varies depending on the postinfection sample collection time point and the similarity between the antigens used for the assays. Additionally, subsequent exposure of ducks to homosubtypic or heterosubtypic strains might affect the observed agreement.

¿Los ensayos de microneutralización e inhibición de la hemaglutinación son comparables? Resultados serológicos de patos de collar infectados experimentalmente con influenza. La prueba de inhibición de la hemaglutinación se usa rutinariamente para evaluar la respuesta inmune humoral contra los virus de influenza aviar, sin embargo, se ha reportado que la prueba de microneutralización tiene una mayor sensibilidad cuando se evalúan muestras de suero de humanos u otras especies. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo determinar la concordancia entre las pruebas de microneutralización e inhibición de la hemaglutinación en suero de patos de collar que fueron desafiados con el virus A/ mallard/MN/Sg-000169/2007(H3N8) y re-inoculados con virus de influenza aviar homosubtípicos o heterosubtípicos. Además, se comparó la proporción de muestras positivas detectadas por ambos métodos. En general, se observó un nivel de concordancia pobre a razonable (PABAK = 0.03 - 0.35) entre las pruebas de microneutralización e inhibición de la hemaglutinación en muestras de suero recolectadas dos semanas post-inoculación del virus H3N8. La concordancia se incrementó a moderada o sustancial en muestras recolectadas cuatro o cinco semanas después de la inoculación (PABAK = 0.52 - 0.75). Una mayor proporción de muestras recolectadas a las dos semanas después de la inoculación fueron positivas por microneutralización en comparación con inhibición de la hemaglutinación (P = 0.01), estas diferencias no fueron observadas con las muestras recolectadas a las cuatro semanas después de la inoculación. Adicionalmente, se observó un incremento en los títulos de anticuerpos cuando las aves fueron re-inoculadas con virus de influenza aviar pertenecientes al mismo clado H3 de la hemaglutinina. Este efecto no fue observado en los patos re-inoculados con virus de influenza aviar pertenecientes a un clado distinto. En resumen, la concordancia entre los ensayos varía según el momento de recolección de la muestra y la similitud entre los antígenos utilizados para los ensayos. Además, la re-inoculación de patos con una cepa homosubtípica or heterosubtípica podría afectar el nivel de concordancia observada.

Effect of dietary fructooligosaccharide supplementation on internal organs Salmonella colonization, immune response, ileal morphology, and ileal immunohistochemistry in laying hens challenged with Salmonella enteritidis.

A study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) in controlling the infection of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) in White Leghorns. A total of 30 laying hens (white leghorns W-36) were challenged both orally and cloacally with approximately 108 colony-forming units of nalidxic acid resistant SE (SENAR) and divided into 3 treatments: 1) SENAR challenged + 0.0% FOS, 2) SENAR challenged + 0.5% FOS (Nutraflora), and 3) SENAR challenged + 1.0% FOS. SENAR recovery via fecal shedding was measured at 3- and 6-d post-infection (dpi), whereas in the ceca and internal organs, SENAR recovery was measured at 7-d post-infection. In the first experiment, there was a 1.0 log10 and a 1.3 log10 reduction in cecal SENAR by supplementation of FOS at 0.5 and 1.0%, respectively. In the second experiment, there was a 0.6 log10 and a 0.8 log10 reduction in cecal SENAR by supplementation of FOS at 0.5 and 1.0%, respectively. Fecal shedding was significantly lower in 1.0% FOS supplemented groups compared to SENAR challenge 0.0% FOS. There was no significant difference among the 3 treatments on SENAR recovery in liver with gall bladder and ovaries. However, the frequency of positive SENAR in the ovaries (10 to 40%) in SENAR challenge 0.0% FOS was significantly lower than liver with gall bladder (60 to 80%) in both experiments. There was a significant upregulation of toll-like receptor-4 in 1.0% FOS and interferon gamma in both 0.5 and 1.0% FOS. Histologic measurements of ileal villi height and crypt depth were similar across all treatments. Immunohistochemistry analyses of ileal samples showed that immunoglobulin A positive cells increased as FOS concentration increased reaching significance at 1.0% as well as altered cytokine gene expression in the ileum. Further, FOS supplementation also reduced cecal SENAR and feces SENAR levels. Collectively, the results suggest that dietary supplementation with FOS may impair SE pathogenesis while modulating humoral immunity within the gut-associated lymphoid tissue.

Heterosubtypic immunity increases infectious dose required to infect Mallard ducks with Influenza A virus.

Previous field and experimental studies have demonstrated that heterosubtypic immunity (HSI) is a potential driver of Influenza A virus (IAV) prevalence and subtype diversity in mallards. Prior infection with IAV can reduce viral shedding during subsequent reinfection with IAV that have genetically related hemagglutinins (HA). In this experiment, we evaluated the effect of HSI conferred by an H3N8 IAV infection against increasing challenge doses of closely (H4N6) and distantly (H6N2) related IAV subtypes in mallards. Two groups of thirty 1-month-old mallards each, were inoculated with 105.9 50% embryo infectious doses (EID50) of an H3N8 virus or a mock-inoculum. One month later, groups of five birds each were challenged with increasing doses of H4N6 or H6N2 virus; age-matched, single infection control ducks were included for all challenges. Results demonstrate that naïve birds were infected after inoculation with 103 and 104 EID50 doses of the H4N6 or H6N2 virus, but not with 102 EID50 doses of either IAV. In contrast, with birds previously infected with H3N8 IAV, only one duck challenged with 104 EID50 of H4N6 IAV was shedding viral RNA at 2 days post-inoculation, and with H6N2 IAV, only birds challenged with the 104 EID50 dose were positive to virus isolation. Viral shedding in ducks infected with H6N2 IAV was reduced on days 2 and 3 post-inoculation compared to control birds. To explain the differences in the dose necessary to produce infection among H3-primed ducks challenged with H4N6 or H6N2 IAV, we mapped the amino acid sequence changes between H3 and H4 or H6 HA on predicted three-dimensional structures. Most of the sequence differences occurred between H3 and H6 at antigenic sites A, B, and D of the HA1 region. These findings demonstrate that the infectious dose necessary to infect mallards with IAV can increase as a result of HSI and that this effect is most pronounced when the HA of the viruses are genetically related.

Adaptive Heterosubtypic Immunity to Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza Viruses in Experimentally Infected Mallards.

Mallards are widely recognized as reservoirs for Influenza A viruses (IAV); however, host factors that might prompt seasonality and trends in subtype diversity of IAV such as adaptive heterosubtypic immunity (HSI) are not well understood. To investigate this, we inoculated mallards with a prevailing H3N8 low pathogenic avian influenza virus (LPAIV) subtype in waterfowl to determine if prior infection with this virus would be protective against heterosubtypic infections with the H4N6, H10N7 and H14N5 LPAIV subtypes after one, two and three months, respectively. Also, we investigated the effect of cumulative immunity after sequential inoculation of mallards with these viruses in one-month intervals. Humoral immunity was assessed by microneutralization assays using a subset of representative LPAIV subtypes as antigens. Our results indicate that prior inoculation with the H3N8 virus confers partial protective immunity against subsequent heterosubtypic infections with the robustness of HSI related to the phylogenetic similarity of the HA protein of the strains used. Furthermore, induced HSI was boosted and followed by repeated exposure to more than one LPAIV subtype. Our findings provide further information on the contributions of HSI and its role in the dynamics of IAV subtype diversity in mallards.

Influenza pathobiology and pathogenesis in avian species.

Wild birds in the orders Anseriformes and Charadriiformes are the natural and asymptomatic reservoirs of influenza A viruses representing all of the avian hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) subtypes. Transmission of avian influenza (AI) viruses from wild birds to gallinaceous poultry species occurs regularly and outcomes vary, ranging from asymptomatic infections to mortality. Circulation of H5 and H7 low pathogenic AI (LPAI) viruses in gallinaceous poultry may result in mutations in the HA protein cleavage site and the emergence of highly pathogenic AI (HPAI) viruses, which in poultry can cause severe disease with high economic losses. Since 2002, various wild bird species also have succumbed to infection with the Eurasian H5N1 HPAI viruses. The pathogenesis of AI is complex and the ability of these viruses to produce disease and death in avian species is dependent on various host, viral and environmental factors, which are not completely understood.